Northern Kentucky has been putting together some solid results thus far through the nonconference and the Norse all of a sudden look like they could be a threat near the top of the Horizon League come conference play. NKU has opened the year 9-3 overall and an even more impressive 4-1 in true road games. To be fair the Norse haven’t been going against the toughest slate, but this group has built up some momentum winning 8 of their last 9 and 6 straight. Recently NKU has picked up some great results in double digit wins against decent teams like Eastern Washington and Eastern Illinois. Northern Kentucky ranks around 100th in the nation in both scoring average and total defense and this group has 4 players scoring in double figures.

Western Virginia has been one of the most impressive teams in the country to open the year standing 10-1 overall ranking a ridiculous 5th in the nation in both scoring average and total defense. West Virginia has been completely blowing out the weaker teams on their schedule with their best wins thus far coming against the likes of Illinois and Virginia. In their last outing the Mountaineers handled their business at home beating Radford by a final of 84-57. West Virginia can be a very difficult team to prepare for given their unique press style and bench depth. West Virginia is loaded with unselfish guys and this offense has 8 guys averaging between 7-13 points per game.

West Virginia has been consistently beating mid-major by large margins so far this season, but today the Mountaineers are going against a squad that’s actually been having success on the road this year. We like the Mountaineers to pull off the win, but getting the Norse with the generous amount of points feels like the better value bet.